OSHA Series 5 | Drive Change with Data

Beginning in 2022, Marni proposed to Hudson Valley’s leadership team that implementing a digital tool to help manage their OSHA events would help her excel at her job. The leadership team agreed to implement Marni’s chosen vendor Aclaimant, with the agreement that she could prove its value by the end of OSHA season 2023.  With the Aclaimant platform running in the background Marni was able to record OSHA events happening across Hudson Valley’s multiple locations, digitally tracking everything according to Hudson Valley’s existing workflow. Along with these features, Marni pushed for an integration with their HR system, as well as data and analytics dashboards to provide additional insights.  Now it’s March 2023, and Marni is due to present her results. Over the past year, Marni has been able to identify back strains as the number one cause of OSHA recordables and plans to implement training to reduce the frequency of these events. Her goal next year is to reduce the total number of days away from work by 25%. She also discovered that their Aspen location was experiencing a high volume of ladder violations, and recommended replacing the ones that were out of warranty. She also noted how the Aclaimant dashboards provide location-specific recommendations (like the need for additional training), and without the dashboards specifically configured for Hudson Valley.  Impressed with the results, the leadership team congratulates Marni and say they are looking forward to her presentation in 2024. “I guess no good deed goes unpunished,” thinks Marni cheerily, mentally patting herself on the back.

To remind yourself of all the obstacles Marni was facing before implementing the Aclaimant platform, we suggest reading our previous blogs, How to Prepare for OSHA, Taking the ‘Work’ out of Workflows, Ace it on Accuracy, and Resolve Recordability. 

Implementing a new technology can be a big step for some companies, and showing the return on investment (ROI) to leadership and stakeholders is a big challenge for those in roles similar to Marni’s. However, technology can help teams track, monitor, and demonstrate the value risk and safety teams are bringing to OSHA management. The strategy of proactively overseeing OSHA management, as well as the risk and safety function within an organization is called Active Risk Management. 

A technology platform works as the backbone of OSHA management by centralizing OSHA event data (depicted in the story above) enabling teams to pinpoint cost drivers, enact change, and present results ranging from costs, morale-boosting, and productivity improvements. Having centralized data is the first step in building powerful analytics to identify cost drivers. Self-developed tools often lack the configurability to provide meaningful insights to risk teams managing OSHA violations. Meaningful insights can look like Marni’s realization to replace out-of-warranty ladders, or seeing the need to provide specific training around back strains to prevent them in the future. 

If you ask many organizations, risk avoidance is a key strategy to avoid risk costs. You don’t have to pay for an OSHA fine you didn't commit, right? However, this is a difficult task when you don’t have the proper tools to know what risks to avoid in the first place. Providing your team with a technology platform will empower risk teams to implement Active Risk Management strategies that avoid risk using real-time operational data. 

Learn more about the Aclaimant platform by scheduling a free demo with our team today.